NAF: THEATRE

(Dawid Minnaar, Anna-Mart van der Merwe appear in “Macbeth Slapeloos” directed by Marthinus Basson) 

The 40^th National Arts Festival will be held in Grahamstown from July 3 to 13, 2014. The programme offers an awe-inspiring number of events across the arts. Herewith information on the Main Festival’s Theatre programme:

OEDIPUS @ KOÖ-NÚ!:

Based on the tragedy Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles, 2014 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre, Greg Homann has reworked a playful allegory offering a subversive and satirical take on the past, present, and future of South Africa's complex political landscape.

David Dennis plays Oedipus, an old man on his way to the city to reconcile with his estranged children. His eldest daughter leads him on his way until he arrives at a sacred ground near the place of his birth. In a moment of clarity, he is reminded of a prophecy decreeing that the land where he is buried will be blessed forever.

Highlighting burning issues for young democracies through this major reworking of the original Greek text, Oedipus @ Koö-Nú! deals with the complacency that can come in the wake of losing a great visionary, the damage that a generation can inflict on the following one and the responsibilities of parents and children to each other.

Fusing comedy, satire, and tragedy, Oedipus @ Koö-Nú! has dark roots and bright pink tips. Even though it deals with weighty issues, this highly entertaining production is packed with delicious comedy, rich theatricality and delightful subversion that have become the signatures of Homann's work. It features David Dennis, Masasa Mbangeni, Ameera Patel, Tumi Morake, Jerry Mntonga, and Glen Biderman-Pam.

FISHERS OF HOPE:

From writer/director of the acclaimed productions Tshepang, Karoo Moose and Solomon and Marion comes Fishers of Hope, a brand new work by the multi-award-winning (1996 SBYA) Lara Foot.

Set along the lakes of Kenya, Fishers of Hope explores the theme of hope: its essence, its longevity and its possible demise. The exploitation of the lake due to the need of the locals and greed of the multinationals becomes the metaphor for the world and its capacity for hope.

Foot has teamed up with researchers Nina Swart and Masai warrior Miyere Miyandazi to create a tale struck through with magical realism and a score richly textured with authentic Kenyan music. The story is brought to life by a dynamic cast, led by Mncedisi Shabangu who played the role of the storyteller in Foot’s Tshepang. 

A rapacious fish vendor, desperate for merchandise, decides to sell her beautiful young niece to a group of fishermen in return for their catch of the day. The deal is that the fisherman who catches the biggest fish gets to sleep with the captivating young woman. Tragedy strikes when a new and very keen fisherman comes to town to live with his older brother. For three consecutive days, he is lucky enough to win the catch of the day and for three consecutive days, he has sex with the beautiful girl. On the third day, he falls in love. As his need for the biggest fish grows desperate, his thirst for hope is unquenchable.

SLOWLY

As invading barbarians approach the palace of a decaying culture, four princesses debate their fate. Decorum demands suicide. But, for some, the possibility of life is all too compelling. In a culture of conformity, it may not be up to the individual to decide... Is there dignity in suicide? Does a struggle to survive demean us? And who is ‘the barbarian’?

Directed by 1997 SBYA Geoffrey Hyland, with Chi Mhende, Faniswa Yisa, Gahlia Phillips and Jennifer Steyn; this production of Howard Barker’s play explores how women are treated as tools of warfare and subjugation.

Barker - author of over 30 plays - has long been an implacable foe of the liberal British establishment, and champion of radical theatre worldwide. Where other playwrights might clarify a scene, Barker seeks to render it more complex, ambiguous, and unstable. Opposing the predominance of comedy in the contemporary culture, which unifies us through “the banality of a shared response”, he argues for the rebirth of a tragic theatre, which will force us to recognize our differences.

PROTEST - South African State Theatre Showcase

Set in a fictional municipal district in Mpumalanga, this drama from 2005 Standard Bank Young Artist Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom sharpens the focus on service delivery protests within voiceless communities.

The production examines why South Africans are so quick to resort to violence and questions whether this country’s legacy of violence can ever be shaken off, celebrating the right to protest and to be heard, told with song and dance and didactics in the Brechtian tradition. Featuring Bongani Masange, Madge Ntamo, Kedibone Tholo, Pulane Jantjies, Melissa Matshikiza, and Mlamla Yiso; the story is told by characters representing different sectors of the community: the politician, the activist, the shopkeeper, the worker and the unemployed civilian.

MARIKANA - THE MUSICAL - South African State Theatre Showcase

Marikana – The Musical is an adaptation by 1998 Standard Bank Yong Artist Aubrey Sekhabi of the novel ‘We Are Going To Kill Each Other Today – The Marikana Story. Meshack Mavuso and Mpho ‘Mckenzie’ Matome lead a cast of 20 that recounts the tragedy that drew the world’s eyes to South Africa. They unleash a blow-by-blow account of the tragic events that led to the loss of 44 lives at the hands of police and miners.

The South African State Theatre Showcase includes “Protest” and “Marikana - The Musical” on the Main Programme, and two productions – “Exile” and “Forgiveness” – which are presented on the Fringe. 

MACBETH.SLAPELOOS

Macbeth is considered one of William Shakespeare's darkest and most riveting tragedies. This tale of an exceptional soldier, pressurised by his wife into killing the king and claiming power for himself, examines the debilitating way that this deed affects the individual, as well as a community or political dispensation.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth is adapted for nine actors from Eitemal’s Afrikaans translation, and explores the effects of guilt and insomnia on two individuals who, through ambition and a lust for power, lose track of boundaries within their relationship and themselves. The production has been commissioned by Clover Aardklop in celebration of director and designer (1989 Standard Bank Young Artist) Marthinus Basson’s contribution to South African theatre, it features a stellar cast comprising Dawid Minnaar, Anna-Mart van der Merwe, Stian Bam, Jana Cilliers, Ludwig Binge, Senzo Madikane, Edwin van der Walt, Antoinette Kellermann, and Charlton George.

COOKING WITH ELISA

Selected from 90 scripts submitted by Argentine playwrights as part of the first edition of Proyecto 34°S Theatre in Translation, Cooking with Elisa is an award-winning play that has been staged in Argentina, the USA, France, Spain and Portugal. 

Set some time ago on an estate in the Argentine countryside, the piece tells the story of two women cooking French delicacies for the demanding Madame and Monsieur of the household. As they pluck, slice, skin, snap, carve, chop, roast, boil and bleed all manner of country creatures for the cuisine, an insidious power struggle between the domineering cook and the naïve country girl unfurls into tragedy.

Cooking with Elisa is a challenging and thought-provoking piece prompting reflection on the past to find answers to questions posed by the present. The play is particularly relevant after twenty years of democracy in South Africa, and 30 years since the restoration thereof in Argentina.

Featuring performances from the award-winning Judy Ditchfield and talented newcomer Lurdes Laice, and directed by 2012 Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre Princess Zinzi Mhlongo, Cooking with Elisa is a compelling piece of theatre that will leave audiences with a twist in the gut (and a diminished appetite for their dinner).

2014 FEATURED ARTIST: SYLVAINE STRIKE

Strike’s Featured Artist programme comprises five productions namely: “On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco; CARGO: Precious” on the Festival’s dance programme and the much awaited return of “Black and Blue”, all on the Main Festival. Two of her latest shows, “Agreed” and “The God Complex” appear on the Fringe Festival.

Since her first break-through at the National Arts Festival in 2002, when Sylvaine Strike directed and co-devised the runaway success Baobabs Don’t Grow Here, her work has moved hearts and minds. From those humble beginnings on the Fringe programme, her critically acclaimed work continued to follow, earning her a list of award-winning productions. Her previous productions at the National Arts Festival are Black and Blue (2004); The Travellers (2005); Coupé (2006); The Butcher Brothers (2010), and The Table (2011). Sylvaine was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre in 2006.  As the Artistic Director of the Fortune Cookie Theatre Company, her work is ground-breaking, poetic, funny and thought-provoking, retaining a rare beauty, magic and fragility that has become synonymous with her very specific signature. She is dedicated to nurturing young performers, designers and stage managers, encouraging them to showcase themselves within the work that she produces. Her production of Moliere’s The Miser which was staged at the Market Theatre won her the 2012 Naledi Award for Best Director Award, amongst others. This has firmly entrenched her position as one of South Africa’s most eloquent and contemporary directors capable of realizing inspired, re-imagined classical work.

BLACK AND BLUE – featured artist Sylvaine Strike

Set in suburbia, Black and Blue gently observes the complexities of South Africa’s ongoing master and servant relationships. Critically acclaimed at the 2004 National Arts Festival where it received pick of the Fringe and played to packed out houses, Black and Blue comes full circle to the Festival a decade later - a nostalgic return for old patrons and an electrifying theatrical revelation for a new generation.

Performed in a detailed, heightened style, every second of Mrs Swart’s existence is alarmingly magnified. Paranoid of life beyond the four walls of her blue house, and stifling in the blue fog of her grief, she eventually succumbs to the persuasive knocking at her door. The angelic arrival of Jackson Siboiboi who seeks to work as a gardener in her abandoned garden initiates a relationship that blossoms through fragility and a change of heart.

With Sylvaine Strike and Athandwa Kani; written in devised collaboration with Sylvaine Strike, James Cuningham, Helen Iskander and Danny Mooi.

ON THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF TOBACCO – featured artist Sylvaine Strike

FACT! Take a fly, put it in a snuff box. It will die… probably from nervous exhaustion. This along with many more interesting facts and naked truths are unfathomed in the lecture titled On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco. The production is a long overdue collaboration between 2006 Standard Bank Young Artist, Sylvaine Strike and 1986 Standard Bank Young Artist Andrew Buckland. Bring pencils to this lecture but no laptops allowed.

Written by William Harding with inspiration from Anton Chekhov, Franz Kafka, James Joyce, Laurence Stern, Moliere, Andre Breton, Edward Lear, Henry W Longfellow, Edgar Allen Poe, Jane Austen, Max Wall and many other famous and unknown people.

UBU AND THE TRUTH COMMISSION

Ubu and the Truth Commission combines puppetry, performance by live actors, music, animation and documentary footage. With its dark and sardonic wit, spectacular animation and finely detailed puppetry, this is the quintessential collaboration between William Kentridge and Handspring Puppet Company.

The performance draws on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings and on the dramatic figure of King Ubu, a licentious buffoon created by French playwright Alfred Jarry. In this production, Ubu represents the policemen, assassins, spies and politicians of the Apartheid regime for who torture, murder, sex and food are all elements of a single gross appetite.

The drama is structured around a metaphorical tale of marital betrayal. Ubu’s wife’s tragicomic misinterpretation of his nocturnal absences affords us glimpses into the devastating complexities of Apartheid. Handspring’s puppets provide poignant testimonies that once formed part of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission hearings.

Written by Dr Jane Taylor, the original direction and animation are by 1987 Standard Bank Young Artist William Kentridge; with original choreography by 1990 Standard Bank Young Artist Robyn Orlin. This revival is directed by 2010 Standard Bank Young Artist Janni Younge and the cast includes Busi Zokufa and Dawid Minaar.

Ubu and the Truth Commission is a Handspring Puppet Company co-Production with the Edinburgh International Festival (United Kingdom), The Taipei Arts Festival and Taipei Culture Foundation(Taiwan), Festival de Marseille – danse et arts multiples (France), Onassis Cultural Centre (Greece), Cal Performances Berkeley and BOZAR Brussels.

DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS

Abrahamse & Meyer Productions present a nimble update of Nobel Prize-winning Eugene 'O Neill's acclaimed 19th century play. Incorporating themes from classical tragedies like Phaedra, Medea and Oedipus Rex, O’Neill created a gripping drama of love, lust, passion and possession that still ranks as one of the greatest classics of the American stage. This production offers a boost in relevance by transposing the original's New England setting to the Eastern Cape in the 1890s.

Old Man Cabot (Robin Smith), a direct descendant of the 1820 Settlers, returns to the family farm with his new Xhosa bride, Abbie Putnam (Mbali Bloom). This sets the stage for a dynamic power struggle between Cabot’s son, Eben (Marcel Meyer), and Abbie concerning ownership of the land.

Abrahamse & Meyer Productions have achieved international acclaim for their productions of Tennessee Williams’ Kingdom of Earth and The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore as well as their Shakespeare productions produced in association with the National Arts Festival – The Tragedy of Richard III, Shakespeare’s R&J and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This production is directed by Fred Abrahamse with music by Charl Johan-Lingenfelder.

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE

Rarely has middle-aged despair over dashed dreams and squandered hopes been put to more hilarious effect than in Christopher Durang's giddy farce on Chekhovian themes in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which won the Tony Award for best play in the USA last year.

In Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, writer Christopher Durang takes characters and themes from Chekhov, pours them into a blender and mixes them up. The result is utterly hilarious and occasionally touching. You don't have to be familiar with Chekov to appreciate this play - Durang is a master of comedy and a widely produced contemporary American playwright; combining absurdist humour and raging satire, his style has influenced an entire generation of writers.

Vanya and his stepsister Sonia have lived their entire lives in their family's farmhouse where they have tolerated the mediocrity of their middle-aged lives, until their movie-star sister Masha returns for a visit to shakes things up. With her toyboy Spike in tow, Masha incites a madcap family reunion complete with all the comic genius that only Christopher Durang can deliver.

Under the direction of Bobby Heaney, audiences can expect a production that is hilarious, touching and witty. Heaney has over 30 Best Director and Best Production awards to his credit. He was the personal videographer to Nelson Mandela and the NMF. In Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Heaney’s directorial hand assures audiences of an intelligent but warmhearted comedy about inescapable family feelings of rage, regret and resentment which anchor the humour in Durang’s play.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike played to sold-out and critically praised extended seasons at the McCarter and Lincoln Centre Theatre in New York.  It will inevitably sell out in Grahamstown, too. Featuring Michael Richard, Louise St Clare, Bo Petersen, Richard Gau, and Keniswe Tshabalala.

HeLa

Adura Onashile’s multi-award winning one-person play HeLa is based on the true-life story of Henrietta Lacks and the extraordinary life of the HeLa cell line. It is directed by Graham Eatough. HeLa makes its South African premiere at the National Arts Festival following a successful presentation at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival, where it was the winner of the Flying Artichoke Award, Total Theatre Award, Scottish Arts Club Best Scottish Show on the Edinburgh Fringe Award and a nominee for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award.

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks walked into the coloured section of the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore with a pain in her abdomen.  A biopsy revealed a cancer that would kill her just months later. A cell sample taken without her permission was used as the raw material for some of the most important scientific discoveries of the past 100 years. Against a backdrop that charts the scientific milestones of the HeLa cell line, this production seeks to bring Henrietta Lacks back to life using testimony from her family members, the scientific community and the doctors that treated her.

KWELA BAFANA+

Kwela Bafana+ is a feel-good musical journey to the heart of Sophiatown - a Sibikwa production which vibrantly pays homage to the distinctive music of the 1950s - an era of vivacity, fashion, music, dance and bravery in the face of apartheid adversity and forced removals.

First produced in 1991, this musical play is set in the electrified ambiance of a Sophiatown shebeen, but is representative of all townships of the time – whether Cato Manor in Durban or District Six in Cape Town; wherever the music, the booze and the banter kept the people’s hopes alive.

With Musical Direction by Themba Mkhize, and starring Velephi Khumalo as the shebeen queen, Kwela Bafana+ takes you down memory lane to the era of “live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse” with the music of South African icons such as Strike Vilakazi, Dorothy Masuka and the Manhattan Brothers.  Bra Boy Ngwenya - an original member of the Woody Woodpeckers and the legendary King Kong - brings authentic 50’s flair to Kwela Bafana+.

THE VERY BIG COMEDY SHOW

The Very Big Comedy Show is a once off comedy extravaganza featuring a handpicked selection of the finest comedians performing at the 2014 National Arts Festival. Hosted by multi Standard Bank Ovation Award-winning comedian, Rob van Vuuren, this show boasts a comedy line up to rival any in the land - all on one massive stage for one huge show only! Featuring Kurt Schoonraad, Siv Ngesi, Deep Fried Man, Chris Forrest, KG, Stuart Taylor and the beat boxing talent of the Australia’s Jamie MacDowell and Tom Thum.

WOMAN IN WAITING – A Season of Solo Plays

(Based on the life of Thembi Mtshali-Jones)

The international award-winning Women in Waiting is a powerful biographical journey into the dark heart of what life was like for women in Apartheid South Africa. In this one-woman tour de force – a collaboration with 2003 Standard Bank Young Artist Yaël Farber - acclaimed actress Thembi Mtshali-Jones leads us from her memories of a rural childhood, waiting to see her mother once a year; through the exhilaration of urban chaos and unfolding realisations of the humiliations her mother endures; to Mtshali-Jones’ own years as a domestic worker - leaving her baby to tend other's children as her mother once had to leave her. Her transformation into a performer and singer who would bear witness to these years, is a testament to the strength of the human spirit. Through searing narrative, lullabies, chanting, haunting images and powerful song, Women in Waiting speaks for South African matriarchs who have endured life in the shadow of Apartheid's brutal grip, and held themselves and their families together against unimaginable odds.

CHEAPER THAN ROSES– A Season of Solo Plays

Set on a railway station in the Western Cape, Cheaper than Roses tells the poignant story of a coloured woman who managed to have her racial classification changed to white during the apartheid years in South Africa. In order to do so, she was forced to discard her old friends and family and start a completely new life. Her experiences as a woman caught between her past and her present reveal why reconciliation at a personal level can be more difficult than reconciliation at a social level.

Written by Ismail Mahomed in 1994 for Lizz Meiring, Cheaper than Roses was staged at the 2004 Afrika Kontakt Festival in Denmark to mark the tenth anniversary of democracy in South Africa. The revival of this production in 2014 during the 20^th anniversary of democracy in South Africa is made possible through a partnership between the Suidoosterfees and National Arts Festival. It is directed by Zane Meas.

ORIGINAL SKIN - A Season of Solo Plays

Phillippa Yaa de Villiers bases her production on her life story. She returns to memories of her adopted childhood growing up under apartheid. The acclaimed South African poet who was invited to present a royal performance before the Queen brings storytelling, spoken word and mime together in this hour-long reflection of a comedy of errors, love, misguided secrets and rebellion, ending with what all adopted people may or may not choose to face: the search for the biological parents.

DESIGNER GENES XXL Return of the Caveman - A Season of Solo Plays

Tim Plewman steps out of the cave and back onto the stage for Designer Genes, the youngest ancestor of his seminal one-man show Defending the Caveman. It offers fresh insights into the eternal battle of the sexes and will elicit laughs from anyone who is in a relationship, has ever been in a relationship or hopes to get into a relationship.

KAWUNA… YOU’RE IT! - A Season of Solo Plays

Kawuna... You're It, Ugandan-based writer/actress Kemiyondo Coutinho’s stirring new play, tells the untold stories of HIV positive women in Uganda that have been suppressed by stigma.

Like the character she plays in the piece, Kemiyondo embarked on an investigation into why Ugandan women have the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the land. With HIV spreading across all levels of the social hierarchy and African women being at the bottom of the social ladder, Kemiyondo intends to give voice to the silenced women affected by this disease. In giving voice to the narratives behind the numbers, Kemiyondo hopes that audiences will emerge from the theatre with a stronger understanding of the HIV experience, and a more personal connection to the fight against the spread of the virus.

Kawuna ... You’re It! was performed at The Sky Festival at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and was also chosen to be part of the New York Global Spotlight Reading with Hybrid Works.

MEZE, MIRA AND MAKEUP - A Season of Solo Plays

Taryn Papadolous Louch and director Renos Nicos Spanoudes recreate Irene Stephanou's National Arts Festival darling Meze, Mira and Makeup; a one-woman account about the growing pains of an adolescent Greek girl named Mira which is poignant, passionate and hilarious. In a world where being asked to dance is the ultimate prize, Mira populates her story with vividly drawn characters that all audiences are able to identify with – whether they are of Greek heritage or not. Mira bares her soul with irrepressible joy and pain, and takes us on a journey of our own as she conveys language, laughter and a lesson or two.

MY WORD! Redesigning Buckingham Palace - A Season of Solo Plays

My Word! Redesigning Buckingham Palace is a stylish vehicle for the diverse talents of Basil Appollis, one of South Africa’s finest actors, under the direction of Sandra Temmingh.

Simultaneously a celebration of renowned author Richard Rive’s writing and a salute to District Six (the heart of Cape Town that was ripped out because it stood in the way of grand apartheid fantasies), My Word! recalls Buckingham Palace - Rive’s renowned novel about the forced removals of District Six. It tells the story of Rive and the District using the writer’s most memorable characters: Mary Bruintjies, the pastor’s daughter and Madame of the Casbah; Zoot the lovable gangster; and Mr Katzen, the Jewish landlord. This one-man show borrows from an earlier work co-written with Sylvia Vollenhoven and performed by Appollis, called A Writer’s Last Word. This previous take on the life of Rive was commissioned by the Baxter Theatre Centre and opened to critical acclaim at the National Arts Festival in 1998.

SALAAM STORIES - A Season of Solo Plays

As relevant today as when it was first written in 2002, this graceful portrait of the Cape Muslim community by actor/playwright Ashraf Johaardien is a funny, moving and politically poignant meditation on life, love and loss. Combining fact and fantasy; themes of identity, history and belonging are intimately explored through artful storytelling. Directed and designed by Jade Bowers.

THE KREUTZER SONATA – A Season of Solo Plays

The Russian authorities immediately censored Leo Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata when it was published in 1889. Adapted and performed by Nicky Rebelo (from the English translation by Benjamin Tucker) and directed by Clare Stopford, The Kreutzer Sonata tells the story of a former court official named Posdnicheff who, while on the train to Moscow, explains to a fellow passenger his reasons for having killed his wife. It’s a story of extreme passions and radical views, injected with love, lust, jealousy and debauchery - all inspired by Beethoven’s Sonata No 9 for violin and piano.

LAUNCHES OF THEATRE BOOKS

The 2nd Season of Solo Plays will coincide with the launch of a publication of solo plays written by some of South Africa’s most prolific playwrights. The book is made possible through a partnership with Junket Publications.

A book on Theatre Directing featuring profiles and work approaches of seven Standard Bank Young Artists will be launched, in association with Jacana Press.

A book on Stage Management in South Africa written by Debra Batzofin will be launched at the Festival in association with Tsogo Sun.

FABRICATE- an exhibition

Handspring Puppet Company has explored the boundaries of puppet theatre since 1981.  Artistic Director Adrian Kohler and Director Janni Younge lead the Cape Town-based company. Handspring’s work has been presented in more than 30 countries around the world. The company has created puppets for 18 theatrical productions, including the runaway hit War Horse. In 2013 alone six Handspring creations were seen in 55 cities around the world. These included seven productions of War Horse (West End, Broadway, Toronto, US National Tour, Australia, Berlin and the UK National Tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (at the Bristol Old Vic, UK and the Spoletto festival, USA); Woyzeck on the Highveld (in the Czech Republic and Germany); Stiller (at the Residenztheater, Germany), I Love you when You’re Breathing (France) and Ouroboros (in Belgium, at the World Puppet Festival and five other venues in France as well as Mumbai, India).

Handspring’s work has established its signature of artistic excellence through the use of finely crafted puppets within a live theatrical context. The marriage of the disciplines of Fine Art and Theatre is at the heart of the discipline of puppetry in general and Handspring’s work in particular.

For Fabricate, Handspring has made a selection of puppets from some of their most popular shows. As the company was created under the directorship of several different artists including William Kentridge, Tom Morris, Malcolm Purkey, Adrian Kohler and Janni Younge, the style of the puppet design has shifted to suit the aesthetic requirements of the creative team and content of the work.

Throughout the history of Handspring, emphasis has always been placed on detailed character representation. Central to the work is the puppet as an expressive sculptural object and the company has tended to design naturalistic figurative puppets with lifelike movement to explore the tension between the illusion of life and the inanimate object. Visible manipulators work together in highly co-ordinated teams with precise choreography to create this illusion of life and give the puppets their true impact in the context of the production. Presented here as static objects the puppets can be seen as sculptural representations of the characters they depict and, collectively, of the artistic ambiance of the productions for which they were created.  The exhibition draws attention to the many innovations in puppet design.

The National Arts Festival is presenting here, the most comprehensive exhibition of Handspring’s work to date. With over 50 puppets on display spanning 22 years of creation Fabricate highlights the nature of their creative process.

Bookings for the 2014 National Arts Festival can now be made online through the website – click on the banner advert above or go to www.nationalartsfestival.co.za Programmes are available on the website or free printed copies at selected Exclusive Books and Standard Bank branches.

The National Arts Festival is sponsored by Standard Bank, The National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Eastern Cape Government, Department of Arts and Culture, City Press and M Net.